Resthaven Aberfoyle Park celebrates fifth birthday
On Thursday 20 July, Resthaven Aberfoyle Park celebrated its fifth birthday, with a festive celebration at the home at 100 Hub Drive, Aberfoyle Park.
Around 100 guests attended the festivities, including Board President, Mark Porter; CEO, Darren Birbeck; and Executive Managers, Tina Cooper, Mel Ottaway, and David Norton.
However, the most important guests of honour were the residents. Amongst them, seated in the front row, were four of the very first residents to the home, who have lived there since 2018, along with two of the site centenarians, Bonnie Chapman (105) and Muriel Dick (101).
Residents, families, and volunteers were entertained by resident, Mr Barry Messner, playing tunes on the piano as they came into the hall, which was then followed by a live musical performance by Registered Nurse, Clare, and her daughter, Eloise, who played a duet on the piano and harp.
A fifth birthday cake was cut by Manager, Hannah Coelho, with one of the ‘first’ residents, Mrs Olive Goddard, who moved into Resthaven Aberfoyle Park in August 2018.
The cake cutting was followed by afternoon tea of fruit, cheese, cakes, pastries, party pies, and scones with jam and cream – and, of course, a glass of bubbly!
The $30m state-of-the-art residential aged care home was opened by the then-Moderator of the Uniting Church in South Australia, Rev Sue Ellis, and Resthaven Board President, Mark Porter, in 2018.
Since then, it has become a thriving site community, home to around 100 residents, and 150 staff. A dedicated volunteer team supports resident wellbeing in a variety of ways – including creating the amazing ‘fifth birthday’ display in the site shop.
Manager, Hannah Coelho, says, ‘We were delighted to celebrate our wonderful home and tight-knit site community on its fifth birthday today.’
‘Resthaven Aberfoyle Park is a beautiful home, and such a great place in which to live and work.’
‘My thanks to everyone who came along today to help us celebrate this milestone.’
A Little History…
Resthaven purchased the land for Resthaven Aberfoyle Park from the City of Onkaparinga in 2007. However, until 2014, the land continued to be leased back to the Council, until Resthaven was allocated 100 aged care places by the Federal Government, allowing development to move forward.
Following approval of the building plans, designed by Brown Falconer Architects, the land was cleared in December 2016, and the main works commenced in February 2017. An official ‘turn the turf’ ceremony was held in March 2017.
Works continued for the next 18 months, with the gardens and site sculpture installed in June 2018.
The build took around 18 months to complete, with an ‘open day’ held on 12 July 2018, just prior to the first residents moving in on 16 July. This allowed the local community – who had been closely watching the building take shape – a chance to see inside before it became home to residents.
A three-month ‘staged opening’ followed, with the site areas opening up in carefully planned sections, allowing residents and staff to properly settle in.
The site reached capacity in September 2018, and was officially opened on 12 October 2018.
Resthaven Aberfoyle Park is now a flagship in Resthaven’s suite of 12 residential aged care homes located across South Australia.